Handdara Myth
by DyanaRoseJill
Summary: Based on Ursula LeGuin's novel, Left Hand of Darkness, the origin of the first Foretellers


This was an assignment for one of my lit. classes and it was a creative writing assignment even!  
It's based on Ursula LeGuin's book  Left Hand Of Darkness  The novel is structured in an interesting way - the main story is broken up by myths and legands. The assignment was to write a legend to explain something that happens in the book.  
So I wrote something to explain the foretelling.

To give a quick summary of the plot, LHOD takes place on a planet called Gethen (Also known as Winter) where there is no gender.  
It's called Winter because it's always cold there.  
Some terms:  
Hearth village, kinda like a feudal system with a mannor house and the surrounding buildings.  
Ice A huge galacier  
Kemmer the mating period (The one time a month when they have gender)  
Fastness sort of like a temple  
Fortelling A mystical ritual which allows a question about the future to be answered  
Weaver the one that runs the foretelling

I'm not a fan of ending but I wrote it rather quickly because I had to finish it in time to hand it in.  
The basic idea is from the book but the characters and the exact situation is all my creation

_Based upon a Handdara Myth. Original origins unknown. Written by Fane of Elgrand Fastness. _

In Ancient times, the People huddled together in Clans in Hearths, sheltered against the snow. Each thought their Clan was all there was to the world. The Hearth was safety, light and warmth. Outside was danger, darkness and cold. All knew none could survive away from the Hearth.

All, that is, except for a young Gethen named Haseth.

No one knows why Haseth was out alone. He was lost from Hearth and home. For days Haseth battled through the wind and the snow. How long his journey was, we do not know, we only know he found himself on the Ice.

There is nothing on the Ice. Not even light. And without light, there cannot be true darkness. His eyes were open but he could not see. It was the Unshadow.

Because he could not see, Haseth did not see the great chasm in the Ice until it was too late.

Down and down he fell.

Down.

Down.

And Haseth knew no more.

When Haseth woke, he woke to a warm red light. After so long in the Unshadow, it was difficult for him to see at first. He waited patient for his vision to clear.

As he waited he heard sounds, voices: "He wakes... He wakes."

Once his vision resolved into light and shadow he was able to see a kindly face gazing down at him.

"Poor thing," a voice belonging to the face murmured, "Alone, lost on the Ice."

"Where am I?" he asked.

"Under the Ice," the voice replied, "You fell in on us. I am Ysa. Welcome to my Hearth."

He gazed up at Ysa, "I am Haseth."

"Where did you come from?"

"I traveled from my Hearth," he replied, going on to tell Ysa about his travels through the world.

Ysa simply smiled, knowing that none could survive wandering through the world unprotected.

Yet Haseth did.

"You must stay here and recover," Ysa said instead.

When Haseth was well, Ysa showed him around the Ice Caves, introducing him to the rest of the Clan.

Haseth was amazed at all he saw. Even though they lived in a world of ice, their home was much warmer than his Hearth, brighter and more colorful.

Ysa showed him many wonders that he had never seen before, things that the clan used to make their lives easier.

And Ysa and Haseth became fast friends as the time went by.

When Haseth entered kemmer for the first time, he stayed by himself, unsure of how these strangers handled the kemmering period.

But a month later, in his second kemmer cycle he noticed Ysa looking at him shyly.

"You are in kemmer," Ysa observed.

He blinked and suddenly realized how beautiful Ysa was. He reached out and their hands met... and then their lips...

And so Haseth met with Ysa of the Ice Caves in kemmer. From then on, the two were lovers.

Ysa's parents seemed to approve of the match, for they wished their child joy.

Blinded by his love for Ysa, it was many months before Haseth noticed that a shadow seemed to hang over the people. Finally as they lay together one night (for they were in kemmer), he asked about it.

Ysa sighed quietly, "So you have noticed. I'd hoped you wouldn't."

"What is it?" he asked.

"Our people are dying," Ysa replied solemnly.

"Dying?" he blinked. From all that he had seen, the people here were thriving, "but it does not seem so."

"Oh yes," Ysa said, "Our time here grows short. Soon, all of the people under the ice will be no more, and only your race will survive."

"This cannot be true," he said.

"It is true," Ysa replied, "We have foretold it."

Haseth only blinked, for this was the first time he had heard of the foretelling. It was not to be the last.

"You are sure?" he asked.

"We are always sure," Ysa answered sadly, "About everything."

He sat up, "What do you mean?"

"It is not for me to tell," Ysa replied with a shake of the head, "I must take you to the Weaver."

The next day, Ysa and Haseth journeyed through a maze of caverns until they reached a large empty one.

Haseth was intrigued by the patterns on the floor. Lines from all sides of the cavern tangled together.

"That is to help the Weaver focus," Ysa explained, "it is the Web. The Weaver is at the Center."

"The Center?"

"Follow the lines, you will see," Ysa said, "But you must go alone."

"Why alone?"

"Ask the Weaver," Ysa said, "I cannot explain. I will wait here for you."

His love had never asked him to do odd things before without reason, so Haseth did not question. He simply picked a line and started to follow it as it wove in and out, in and out.

He kept his eyes on the ground as he picked his way through the path.

Haseth did not see anything else in the cave. If he had looked around, it is said, he would have lost himself in the many unspoken wonders.

"Haseth," said an unfamilar voice.

He looked up to see someone, clad in black with long silver hair.

"How do you know me?" he asked.

"You are Haseth, lost from Hearth and Home, who wandered through the world, passed through the Unshadow on the Ice and found his way to the Ice Caves," the stranger told Haseth in a voice weary with age, "you are friends and in kemmering with Ysa, who brought you here because you have questions."

Haseth just stared at the old one in astonishment, "How did you know?"

"I am the Weaver," the old one replied, "I know all."

The Weaver invited Haseth to sit and eat as Haseth asked in questions.

"Ysa said that the time of your people is ending," he started slowly.

"Yes," the Weaver said, "it is."

"And you know this?" he asked, "How?"

The Weaver looked distant, "many lifetimes ago, the Weaver foretold it. We have known ever since."

"Haven't you done something about it?"

"There is nothing to do," the Weaver replied, "we know that our time will end."

"But how do you know?" Haseth was growing frustrated.

"Quiet," the Weaver interrupted Haseth's questions, "You will not be able to understand if you do not relax and listen. Do you truly wish to hear about it."

"I do," he replied.

"It will take a long time, and Ysa is waiting for you," the Weaver cautioned.

"But Ysa brought me here to answer my questions," Haseth said, "Surely he will expect me to be here a long time."

The Weaver smiled, "Very well."

The Weaver explained that the people of the Ice Caves were a proud and noble race of people, with many brilliant minds. But they were cursed -

("Surely you mean blessed," Haseth interupted.)

"They were cursed with an insatiable curiosity to know everything about their world. This in and of itself would not have been terrible, but many of them were impatient as well.

And so, they discovered that by harnessing the energy produced by a pair in kemmer, they were able to find the Answers to any Questions.

For a time this was good, their civilization advanced, but then someone was bold enough to Ask: "Will our civilization last throughout all time?"

The Answer was an absolute No.

After that, things came to a halt. Now that everyone knew whatever they did would not last, people lost interest. Things were not invented, projects were left unfinished. For no one could see any point in it.

"And so we live as we do now," the Weaver said, "There is always a Weaver, there are still foretellings, for some pretend they do not know. But all of us know our time will end."

This distressed Haseth. "How much time do you have left."

"We do not know that," the Weaver said, "For none have Asked."

"Surely that would make things better," Haseth said.

"No," the Weaver looked alarmed, "It would make things worse! Think on it Haseth - if we knew exactly how much time there was left all that people would do is wait in terror for the day."

Haseth thought about this for a long moment. "I suppose it would be sad to wake up that morning knowing..."

"Exactly."

Haseth returned to Ysa with his mind full.

"Were your questions answered?" Ysa asked.

"Some of them," he replied, "But this has given me plenty to think about."

Haseth spent more time in the Ice Caves, learning more things that are not recorded here. But he could not forget what the Weaver had told him.

"I think," he told Ysa, "That no one has ever asked the right question."

"What do you mean?" Ysa asked.

"I have thought about this," he said, "I want to Ask a Question."

The Weaver was distressed to hear this, but Haseth remained firm.

"What do you want to ask?" the Weaver asked finally.

"It seems to me that this foretelling has done a great deal of harm," he said, "but it has also done good. What must be done to make sure that it does more good than harm?"

The Weaver looked thoughtful. "It is answerable."

Haseth tilted his head, "There are questions that aren't?"

"Yes," he said with a nod, "Come."

Haseth looked to Ysa.

"I will come," Ysa agreed.

Haseth and Ysa sat close together, watching as several others formed a circle around the Weaver, and the ritual began.

The answer came out of the darkness, in the Weaver's voice. It is an answer we all know.

When it was complete, Haseth looked directly into the Weaver's eyes. "Will you teach me to become a Weaver?"

Out of love for Haseth, Ysa stayed with him as the Weaver taught Haseth how to see the pattern, how to hold it together until just the right moment.

It took many years before Haseth was declared a Weaver in his own right. He knew all there was to know, and to the astonishment of Ysa and the Weaver, he was happy about it.

"Why did you do this?" Ysa asked Haseth, "You have seen what this knowledge has done to my people."

Haseth took Ysa's hands, "My love, this is not evil. It is a tool that much be used properly. And I have learned all that I can here, I must go learn more."

Ysa pulled away, "You are leaving then."

"Come with me," he said.

"I cannot," Ysa murmured, "None can survive outside."

"You don't know that," he said.

Ysa blinked, "What?"

"I don't know that we can't survive," he said, "And I don't know if I will learn more or not, but I want to find out. Come with me."

"I must think on it."

_Elgrand is the oldest of all the Fastnesses in Gethern. There are many names carved on the Hearthstone of Elgrand. We guess that they are the names of the builders, but we cannot be sure. Two of the names are Haseth and Ysa - vowed kemmers. _


End file.
